Abstract #2334

Gitajn L, Xi Z, Lu H, Rea W, Scholl C, Stein E, Yang Y

Cocaine is a potent psychostimulant that produces euphoria, enhanced alertness as well as increases in heart rate and blood pressure. The effects of cocaine on the cardiovascular and cerebral vascular systems raise questions whether and to what extent these vascular effects could potentially confound fMRI data that are based on the hemodynamic response after cocaine administration. Manganese-Enhanced MRI (MEMRI) is an alternative neuroimaging approach that is independent of hemodynamic response. In the present study, we applied this technique to map rat brain activation induced by acute cocaine administration.